Bachelor of Arts in Youth and Childrens Studies

at Wilfrid Laurier University - Brantford Campus Canada

Our Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Community Health program explores and recognizes the wide range of social, biological and institutional factors that influence the health and well-being of communities defined by geography, socioeconomic status, gender, cultural makeup, ability and vulnerability.

In this program you'll learn to:

• Identify the most significant health challenges in communities.
• Evaluate the factors that create health risks for members of those communities.
• Study and make recommendations for program and policy interventions that will improve the health status within your communities of concern.

Consideration is also given to the Canadian and Ontario health-care systems, and the policy framework that underpins the provision of health and social services to specific communities and the broader population.

In this program, you'll earn an Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Laurier and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom (UK) in six years. You are guaranteed an offer of admission to Sussex’s Law School if you maintain a minimum B average (73-76%) when at Laurier. 

In this innovative, competitive-entry program, you’ll have the opportunity to study alongside other high-achieving students. You’ll also have access to supports dedicated to your academic and professional success. Because the LSAT is not a requirement to study law in the UK, your focus during your first two years at Laurier can be on your studies.

Humanities with Leadership Foundations
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Humanities with Leadership Foundations program allows you to combine a traditional arts education with foundational leadership courses to realize your leadership potential.

WHAT IS BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT?
Demand is high and growing fast for professionals with the capability to add strategic value by aligning business and technology. The Information Technology Association of Canada has indicated that there are more than 200,000 professionals in business technology management jobs today and demand is expected to increase over the next several years. According to the database company Statista, there are more than 650,000 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals in Canada with demand being expected to increase over the next several years.

ABOUT BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT AT LAURIER
Our Bachelor of Business Technology Management (BTM) degree will help you bridge the gap between the business and technology departments of any organization in any industry.

Our program will provide you with the skills to evaluate, select and implement technology-based solutions to business problems including databases, information technology, systems design and managing innovation. You’ll learn to assess the value that a specific technology brings to a particular organization, and you’ll understand how technologies can be used within existing systems. We focus on developing critical thinking, interpersonal communications and collaboration skills.

The BTM program is built specifically to teach the latest business and technology practices that companies are using in the real world every day. Some of these concepts include enterprise architecture, intellectual property and privacy law, and the Unified Modeling Language.

Upon graduation, you'll already have the experience needed to succeed in the modern workplace.

The health and social service industry is one of the largest employment sectors in Canada. In this Bachelor of Arts program in Health Administration, you’ll learn to help manage issues associated with rising demands for health care, costlier and more diverse treatments, and the ways in which infectious disease outbreaks (such as H1N1 or 2019-nCoV) disrupt the economy.

You’ll have the opportunity to learn from award-winning educators and researchers who integrate the latest advancements and knowledge into your courses. In this program, you’ll also have experiential learning opportunities in a practicum placement allowing you to pursue your specific interests in health administration.

You can focus your Health Administration studies in one of two areas: Human Resource Management, or Community and Social Service Management. These specializations provide you the opportunity to earn a graduate certificate from Conestoga College and your Bachelor of Arts in Health Administration in only four years. 

The Game Design and Development program will help you learn to communicate through playful experiences such as analog and digital games. Through play, today’s designers can explore social, cultural, and environmental issues while innovating on and challenging the conventions and assumptions embedded in existing games. You will create gameplay that pushes the medium forward, exploring, expanding, and innovating how games engage players, share experiences, and transform lives.

In our Bachelor of Arts and Science (BASc) in Community Health program, award-winning educators and researchers integrate the latest advancements and knowledge into courses about the social and physical factors that influence the health status of communities. Communities are often defined by location but can also be defined by groups of people connected through identity or purpose.

In this program you’ll have the flexibility to conduct research and/or have experiential learning opportunities in a practicum placement allowing you to pursue your specific interests in community or Community Health.

With our small class sizes and close-knit environment, you’ll get a unique educational experience at the Brantford campus. With lots of opportunities for field placements, you’ll receive practical experience in community settings like daycare centres, educational institutions, community centres and human-service agencies.

We also offer opportunities to get involved in current research projects with our faculty members.

You’ll graduate from our program with a solid grounding in psychological theory and experience working in the field. This, combined with the other benefits of a social science degree (critical thinking skills, communication skills, project management and analytical skills), will give you the qualifications that employers are looking for.

As a Criminology student, you’ll delve into the exciting world of crime, criminals, victims and the law. Criminology isn’t like an episode of CSI; while forensics are part of what you’ll study, your classes will also draw on sociology, psychology and law to examine what defines a crime, why people commit them and how society responds. Criminologists focus on:

• Theories explaining the causes of crime;
• The social impact and reaction to crime and deviance;
• Victimization;
• The criminal justice system and law enforcement responses; and
• Crime prevention.

At Laurier, you’ll get a well-rounded education that emphasizes critical thinking, theoretical explanations of behaviour, a foundation in qualitative and quantitative research methods, and communication and writing skills – which just about every employer you meet wants to see.

The Indigenous studies field is growing rapidly and we have designed a program that will prepare you to engage with important issues facing Canada and the world through course work in two programs and community service-learning opportunities. Our classrooms teach the perspectives and experiences of Indigenous people (who make up about 20% of the world’s population) to deepen your understanding of these issues.

Your courses will cover topics in Indigenous rights, history, ecological knowledge, and teaching practices. Your education will be complemented by courses in Indigenous languages, literature and media.

Diverse teaching methods, such as planting medicines in our Medicine Garden course, bring class material to life and allow you to understand Indigenous worldviews by applying them to the world around you. 

Our Social and Environmental Justice program is unique in Canada – we provide you with the knowledge, inspiration and career skills to directly contribute to the world we live in both locally and globally. Our curriculum examines topics such as poverty and policies to reduce income inequality, climate change and sustainable communities, and citizens’ roles in a democratic society. Our graduates are socially aware citizens and inspirational leaders in their communities who contribute to a more positive collective future for all.

Embracing Laurier's designation as an Ashoka Changemaker Campus, the program prepares you for a career in the field of social and environment justice through targeted courses such as Social and Environmental Justice in Practise and the Community Internship. In addition, the Social Innovation Specialization supports the development of the entrepreneurial skills needed to be successful in your own socially focused business venture or within an established organization.